The embodiments herein relate generally to rehabilitation and fitness equipment, and more particularly, to a treadmill system for horizontally suspending a flexible running/walking surface over air.
Conventional treadmills include a running surface (belt) being supported by being pulled over a hard deck. Thus, when a user runs or walks on the belt, the user's heel contacts/impacts both the belt and the deck. The collision of a user's heel with the supporting deck causes trauma to not only the heel, but also to the user's other joints and skeletal system, resulting in pain and risk of further injury. Conventional treadmills that are designed to suspend a running surface over air have had failure of the suspension components, such as ripped running surfaces, broken cables, broken brackets, wallowed out rollers, and the like, because they are not designed to withstand the amount of horizontal force required to suspend a user over air.
Therefore, what is needed is a system for horizontally suspending a running/walking surface over air, thus eliminating heel strike impact. For exercising runners on pavement or other hard surfaces, including traditional treadmills, providing a trampoline-like walking/running surface may not only prevent impact damage to the body, but may also provide a significantly greater cardiovascular workout, particularly as the surface is elevated, which creates a workout similar to running up a sand dune. For rehabilitating patients, the absence of pain caused by heel strike impact may allow the patient to begin walking earlier, reducing the atrophy period between injury and rehabilitation, which is frequently spent in a wheelchair. The inactivity during this time period can cause decay of body conditioning, which must be rebuilt in subsequent rehabilitation, elongating the time and cost of rehabilitation.